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Media Releases
Civil society unites behind call for a Human Rights Act for South Australia
Today, on Human Rights Day, an alliance of civil society organisations has come together to call for the enactment of a South Australian Human Rights Act that legally protects the dignity and interests of all South Australians.
Significant momentum has been building for more widespread legislative protection of human rights across Australia. The Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and Queensland have already enshrined human rights in Acts of Parliament. The South Australian Parliament is currently conducting an Inquiry into the Potential for a Human Rights Act for SA. The Report of the federal Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights’ Inquiry into Australia’s Human Rights Framework, released in May 2024, not only recommended the enactment of a federal Human Rights Act, it emphasised the need for states like South Australia to move towards introducing their own human rights legislation.
The South Australian Council of Social Service, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights and the Rights Resource Network are united in the call for law reform, and they are not alone.
South Australian Commissioner for Children and Young People Helen Connolly said:
“When describing the community and world they want to live in, children and young people focus on equality, fairness, and respect. A Human Rights Act would uphold these values and ensure leaders, decision makers, organisations and service providers consider children’s rights as core business rather than as an afterthought. A Human Rights Act for South Australia should recognise and address poverty as a structural barrier to realising children’s rights, uphold children’s participation, consider the impacts of today on the children of future generations and establish ways to embed children’s rights within education settings.”
Read the full media release here.
Commissioner’s Space to Dream Exhibition opens today at the Australian Space Discovery Centre
The Commissioner’s annual Space to Dream Exhibition opens today at the Australian Space Discovery Centre at Lot Fourteen, North Terrace. The exhibition features top rated designs chosen from entries received from schools across the State whose students participated in the Comissioner’s Space to Dream Challenge in 2024.
Now in its fifth year, the Commissioner’s Space to Dream Challenge supports students to learn design thinking skills and apply them to the design of a toy or gadget for someone their age who is ‘moving to Mars’.
Jack in Year 4 at Coomandook Area School has taken out the grand prize this year winning a 3D Printer for their school donated by Challenge Partners Makers Empire. Jack’s Hollow-Ball was selected by the Commissioner as the highest ranked design for 2024 for its focus on improving a person’s health and fitness while they’re on Mars.
The Commissioner’s Space to Dream Challenge was devised to inspire the next generation of South Australian space entrepreneurs and innovators.
The top-rated designs will be on display at the Australian Space Discovery Centre, McEwin Building at Lot Fourteen from today (4 December) through to 24 January 2024.
Read the Full Media Release here
Joint Statement from ANZCCG re Federal Govt’s social media legislation
Australia’s top officials for children and young people hold grave concerns about the rushed process and lack of clarity surrounding the Federal Government’s social media legislation, which will place significant restrictions on social media use for under 16s.
Meeting today, Australian and New Zealand Children’s Commissioners, Guardians and Advocates (ANZCCGA) raised concerns about the announcement having left insufficient time for thorough consideration and consultation, and the potential unintended consequences for the rights, safety, and wellbeing of children and young people.
Promoting the importance of respecting and protecting children’s rights, safety, and wellbeing in the digital environment is crucial to empowering our future generations.
Speaking on behalf of ANZCCGA members, Ms Jodie Griffiths-Cook, ACT Public Advocate and Children and Young People Commissioner said, “Despite the extensive media coverage and public debate surrounding the social media ban for children under 16 years, a significant oversight prevails: the rights and views of children and young people have often been marginalised in this discussion.
“While we commend efforts that seek to protect the rights of Australian children and young people, there has not been enough consideration for the adverse impacts this decision could have on already marginalised groups such as LGBTQIA+ children and young people and those living in regional and remote areas, many of whom rely on social media for support, social connection, and learning.”
Adding to this, Ms Zoë Robinson, NSW Advocate for Children and Young People said, “Children and young people have expressed their concerns to us about how these restrictions will affect them and have also offered their thoughts about how to keep them safe online. We need to acknowledge their solutions and ideas and then respond accordingly.
“By working together, we can help our children stay safe in the digital world and ensure it is an inclusive space that empowers them and supports their development.”
Media Release: Teenagers and Safety
Stark differences between genders in relation to teenagers’ experiences of safety
South Australia’s Commissioner for Children and Young People, Helen Connolly, has today released her latest report Teenagers and Safety – an examination of the 908 survey responses received from South Australian 12 to 19-year-olds who participated in her Teenagers and Safety Survey conducted throughout May and June this year.
Commissioner Connolly highlights the different understandings and meanings of safety that young people of different genders have, thereby identifying the need to explicitly address the relationship between safety and gender in any policy strategies or activities relating to teenagers and safety currently in development.
Along with gender, demographics contribute to different experiences of safety amongst teenagers, and the likelihood of when or where a teenager may feel unsafe. It is clear from the responses that teenagers experience safety differently in different settings.
Given the wide-ranging impact experiences and feelings around safety have on all aspects of a young person’s life, the onus is on education, business, health, and the wider community to recognise children and young people’s right to feel safe.
Read the full Media Release here.
Read the full report here.
Media Release: YEDP Graduation Showcase
South Australian young people graduate from inaugural Youth in Emergencies Development Program, Building Key Skills for Disaster Preparedness.
With emergencies increasing in frequency and severity, South Australian students have taken a significant step toward disaster preparedness, as they graduated from the Youth in Emergencies Development Program (YEDP). This two-year program, delivered by Australian Red Cross in partnership with the South Australian Country Fire Service (SACFS), Commissioner for Children and Young People Helen Connolly, and supported by The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, has equipped these young graduates with critical skills to respond confidently to emergencies and contribute to community resilience.
Open to Year 9-12 students across South Australia, YEDP provides a mix of self-paced learning, interactive workshops, and hands-on experience through a community resilience project. During 2023, the program was co-designed by young people, for young people, and has been implemented throughout 2024.
This pilot project was funded under the Disaster Risk Reduction Grants Program, by the Australian Government and the South Australian Government.
Our Future Our Vote
Make democracy fairer: lower the voting age to 16 for local government elections say SA young people.
A poll of more than 769 secondary school students reveals half believe the voting age for local government elections should be lowered from 18 to 16 years, with two thirds saying they would ‘definitely’ or ‘probably’ vote if it was.
The poll also revealed young people’s reasons for wanting to vote from a younger age including having an opportunity to ‘have a voice on what goes on in local government’ and having ‘a say on the future of the country by participating in electing the people that represent us best’.
Members of the SA SRC’s Our Future Our Vote campaign undertook the poll to ensure their view ‘that young people want to exercise their right to have a say on the decisions being made about the world they live in’ is representative of their peers.
As the generation who will be shaped by decisions being made now, the poll responses show that secondary school age students are keen to have their perspectives and experiences, which are different to those of older generations, considered.
Read the full Media Release here.
Read the full position brief here.
Seeing Ourselves
SA SRC Seeing Ourselves campaign proposes regular diversity reviews to ensure SA schools are inclusive of all students.
A poll of more than 750 high school students reveals many students are unaware of youth-led school-based programs to celebrate or support diversity amongst students.
Members of the SA SRC’s Seeing Ourselves campaign aim to change this with their proposal to introduce a regular diversity review of a school’s policies, curriculum, and co-curricular groups, to ensure these embrace diversity and inclusiveness, both in principle and in practice. Importantly, the review must be undertaken using mechanisms that involve students as co-designers and contributors.
Young people in South Australia are clear they want their schools to be places that support inclusiveness and diversity, acknowledging that students have differing sexualities and gender identities, mental and physical disabilities, and diversity in religious practices and cultural backgrounds.
Read the full Media Release here.
Read the full position brief here.
Fitness for Free
Government and fitness industry should work together to benefit young people’s mental health.
A poll of more than 617 South Australian high school students reveals two-thirds of them believe their mental health would benefit from free access to gyms while they are in high school, particularly for those who are living with mental health issues.
The poll also revealed that a third of students who responded want more access to swimming pools, public sports fields and courts, fitness classes, school sports, club sports and recreation centres, and more time to participate in fitness activities overall.
Students described a range of barriers they face to participating in more sport and fitness activities while in high school. These barriers included cost, opening times, availability of sessions, and transport. They also reported gender barriers that included a lack of female teams, poor quality community courts and fields, and age-related restrictions at some facilities and recreation centres.
Members of the SA SRC’s Fitness for Free campaign are highlighting that much more needs to be done to support young people with mental health challenges, and that providing free access to gyms and other fitness facilities for those who need it is a positive step that government and the fitness industry can take to provide practical support for high school students.
Read the full Media Release here.
Read the full position brief here.
Greening Our Canteens
Students want school canteens to go green with fresh fruit and veg and sustainable food waste practices
A poll of more than 1,398 South Australian high school students reveals they want their school canteens to be offering more fresh and affordable food, and to improve the way food packaging and food waste at schools is being managed.
Students want to be involved in the planning and decision-making that will decide how best to reduce their school’s collective waste levels and ensure they adopt sustainable practices that include changing how food is being managed, supplied and disposed of at schools across the state.
Suggestions from students included creating more school community gardens from which canteen staff can harvest fresh, more affordable food daily, and to which school food waste currently going to landfill can be diverted as compost. They also want to see plastic packaging removed and utensils at school canteens replaced with reusable or recyclable kitchenware and cutlery, while offering students ‘eat in’ options to support these changes.
Read the full Media Release here.
Read the full position brief here.
Free Fares for Our Future
Free public transport for SA high school students would ease cost of living pressures.
A poll of more than 912 South Australian high school students reveals free access to public transport would ease cost of living pressures on many families, while also enabling some students to participate in school, sport and other extra-curricular activities they currently forego.
Students described the stress of finding money to pay for their bus and train fares to get them to and from school, work, sport, and other extra-curricular commitments as being at an all-time high. Other stresses associated with finding fares included managing MetroCard levels so as not to risk incurring fare evasion fines, having an over reliance on parents and carers for transport, and struggling with a general lack of mobility and autonomy as a result.
Members of the SA SRC’s Free Fares for our Future campaign are highlighting that current fare subsidies, although in existence, do not go far enough, particularly for less financially secure young people whose families do not have sufficient funds to absorb cost of living pressures. These young people are foregoing involvement in sport, school excursions and other social and recreational opportunities that their peers enjoy because the cost of their transport to and from school must be prioritised over these other expenses.
Read the full Media Release here.
Read the full position brief here.
